Bulletin Autumn‧Winter 1981

Twenty-Third Congregation Professor Alexander Lamb CULLEN ， O.B.E. ， F.R.S. Mankind has been greatly benefited by recent advances in technology, especially the introduction of the science of electronics which has caused a second industrial revolution with even more far-reaching consequences than the first. With great ingenuity in using a new source of energy to design and make new machines and devices, we now have not only spacecrafts which have put men on the moon, but many appliances for the laboratory, office and home. Even our children have already taken an early lead in abandoning the conventional mechanical toys for electronic games which attract perhaps more so the adults. For Hong Kong, the electronics industry, which now manufactures many varieties of products of high quality, is an important diversification in our bid to boost our export trade which is vital to our economy. Such is the importance of this industry that our University, in fulfilling its mission to serve our community by supplying its needs, has put greater emphasis on its electronics programme by upgrading it from a minor to a major one. The move has resulted in yet another popular field of study, sought after by both undergraduates and postgraduates who can now work for a Doctor of Philosophy degree in electronics. To develop this programme, the University has been fortunate to have Professor Cullen to turn to for advice and help. Professor Cullen occupied a chair of Electrical Engineering at the London University from 1967 to 1980. He is now an Emeritus Professor and a senior fellow of the Science Research Council in the United Kingdom. A leading authority in his field, he has been awarded several premiums by the Institution of Electrical Engineers over the years. A fellow of a number of institutes, Professor Cullen is above all a Fellow of the Royal Society. I suspect that not many engineers have been admitted into that august body, at least there are perhaps not more of them than medical men. In any case, this accolade is the indisputable sign of recognition for a scientist and as such Professor Cullen has certainly distinguished himself by his many significant contributions to a new branch of science and engineering. For his invaluable services to the University, I now ask you, Mr. Chancellor, to confer on Professor Cullen the degree of Doctor of Science, honoris causa. 3